Pay Commission recommends hefty increase in salaries of government employees

New Delhi, Mar 24 : The Sixth Pay Commission headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna has recommended a hefty increase in salaries with effect from January 1, 2006 for as many as 4.5 million central government employees.

The Commission's recommendations, submitted to Union Finance Minister P.Chidambaram this morning, would cost the exchequer Rs 12,561 crore in 2008-09 and impose an arrear payout burden of Rs 18,060 crore on the Government.

The pay panel proposals revised pays that fixed the salary of the Cabinet Secretary at Rs 90,000 a month and a Secretary at Rs 80,000 per month, while making Rs 6,660 as the minimum entry level salary.

The existing House Rent Allowance (HRA) rate has been retained for A-1 cities while it is higher by 20 per cent for A, B-1 and B-2 cities. For C and unclassified cities the allowance is higher by 10 per cent.

The report recommends that City Compensatory Allowance (CCA) be subsumed in Transport Allowance, and the rate be increased by four times. In other changes, travel is to be paid on actual.

The Commission also suggested a 40 per cent increase in pension and family pension.

The panel placed the military services' pay on par with those recommended for civilians, while suggesting an allowance of Rs 6,000 per month for officers till the rank of Brigadier and equivalent.

A scheme of Performance Related Incentive Scheme (PRIS) has been recommended. PRIS should also work as a substitute for bonus, honorarium and overtime allowances," the report said.

The Finance Ministry will consider the report and will submit its recommendations to the Union Cabinet.

While Chidambaram did not announce any provision in the Budget for the increased wage bill in 2008-09, he had maintained that there was enough head-room to meet the additional expenditure.

ANI